A vivid portrait collection of past and present Americans speaking truth to power
The first volume of Robert Shetterly's Americans Who Tell the Truth portrait series, Portraits of Racial Justice takes a multimedia, interdisciplinary approach, blending art and history with today’s issues concerning social, environmental, and economic fairness. Shetterly's paintings, as well as profiles of those portrayed, illuminate a community of people not only willing to recognize the shortcomings of America’s history, but most importantly, individuals who offer their visions of a better world moving forward.
Starting with Michelle Alexander and ending with Dave Zirin, the diverse array of fifty full-color portraits spans multiple generations and struggles. This volume also includes four original opening essays on racial justice in the United States by Ai-jen Poo, Dave Zirin, Sherri Mitchell, and Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., which provide an intersectional response to the long-term goal of diversity and inclusion.
As Shetterly says, “without activism, hope is merely sentimental.” Portraits of Racial Justice, Shetterly’s homage to transformative game-changers and status-quo fighters, provides the inspiration necessary to spark social change.
Price: $34.95
Pages: 128
Publisher: New Village Press
Imprint: New Village Press
Series: Americans Who Tell the Truth
Publication Date:
21 September 2021
Trim Size: 11.00 X 8.50 in
ISBN: 9781613321638
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Social Activists, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Race & Ethnic Relations, HISTORY / United States / General
"The work of Robert Shetterly is the work of a brilliant artist who cares about a living, breathing democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people—and not being saddled to a brittle history of the past. Inspired by vibrant paths of engagement, Shetterly’s Portraits of Racial Justice is a loving chronicle of charismatic change in the name of transformative and passionate leadership across disciplines, race, gender, and beliefs. This project is more than a series of spirited portraits, it is a masterpiece of revolutionary ideas."
Robert Shetterly is a visual artist, social activist, and writer. For the past twenty years, he has painted portraits of citizens who address issues of social, environmental, and economic fairness in the series Americans Who Tell the Truth, now the subject of the Kane Lewis feature-length documentary Truth Tellers, which is currently airing on American Public Television. Shetterly's portrait project is also recorded in a multi-volume book series, including Portraits of Racial Justice and Portraits of Earth Justice, and Portraits of Peacemakers. Since 1990, Shetterly has been a producer of the Maine Masters Project and has served as President of the Union of Maine Visual Artists. Shetterly lives and works in Brooksville, Maine.
